Mar. 6, 1873] 
~ 
’ the least known of the Cornish cromlechs. 
NATURE 
339 
Finally a stone 7°67 ft. long, but not high enough to 
reach the covering stone, was placed on the south side. 
The chamber is 7 ft. high within, and a small pit seems 
to have been sunk in the natural soil at the centre. 
The pile is surrounded, and was probably covered, with a 
barrow, which still in some places nearly reaches the top 
of the side stones. It measures 32 ft. in diameter and is 
surrounded with upright stones. The interstices between 
the sides of the chamber were filled with small stones, 
calculated to prevent the entrance of any rubbish. 
The Pawton Cromlech, in the parish of St. Breock, near 
Wadebridge, occupies high ground, and is intact. The 
kist, 7'5 ft. long, 2 ft. wide at one end and 3'5 ft. at the 
other, and at least 5 ft. deep, is formed with eight sparry 
side-stones, more than half buried in an oval tumulus, 
6o0ft. long. The quoit, also a sparry stone, supported by 
only three of the side-stones, is 7 ft. broad, 2'5 ft. thick, 
and, though a portion of it has been broken off, still 13 ft. 
long. 
Trethevy, or Trevethy, Cromlech, or “Stone,” in the 
parish of St. Cleer, near Liskeard, in south-east Cornwall, 
is stated by the author to be the jargest, though perhaps 
Neverthe- 
less, he adds that it was described by Norden about 1610, 
and has been the subject of two papers in the present 
century. It consists of six upright stones, only three of 
which support a quoit, 13 ft. long, 9 broad, and 1 thick, 
which, on account of the unequal heights of its supporters, 
is 13 ft. above the ground at one point, and not more than 
7'5 feet at another. The eastern or principal and highest 
supporter, rising nearly roft. above the small mound on 
which the whole stands, has almost the appearance of a 
wrought stone. A ruder stone, almost equally high, rests 
against it like a buttress. The two stones on each side 
of the chamber are several feet shorter. The western 
end is open, but an eighth stone, considerably longer 
than the side-stones, lying lengthways along the kist, as 
if it had fallen there, was probably the supporter of that 
extremity, The interior of the chamber is from 9 to Ioft. 
long, and from 5°5 to 6°5 ft. broad. There is near the 
bottom of the eastern supporter an aperture 2 ft, high, and 
1'75 broad, and in the north-east corner of the quoit, 
where it extends beyond the kist, a hole not quite cir- 
cular, from 6 to 8in. across. Norden speaks of the latter 
as “an arteficiall holl, which served as it seemeth to put 
out a staffe, whereof the house itself was not capable.” 
Mr. Pattison, a careful student of the geology and anti- 
quities of Cornwall, also states that “ the sides are smooth, 
as if worn by a staff;” and Mr. Borlase is of opinion 
that “such is, without doubt, the account of it.” If 
this be so, it apparently indicates that the cromlech, 
whatever its origin, had not been restricted to funeral 
uses. The author calls attention to the fact that a hole 
is frequently found in the dolmens of Eastern Europe 
and India, adding, however, that this always occurs in 
one of the sides and communicates with the interior of 
the chamber, whilst in the Cornish example it passes 
through an overlapping portion of the quoit. Without 
expressing an opinion on this question, we would remind 
those who have “done” Dartmoor that they have pro- 
bably been taken by the guide to see, lying in some of 
___ the streams, blocks of granite having approximately cir- 
_ cular smooth holes passing completely through them, 
and, though there could be no doubt that they were due 
to the action of running or falling water, have been ex- 
pected to regard them as somewhat mysterious. Is it 
not possible that, when choosing their slabs, one which 
happened to be thus naturally perforated, if suitable in all 
other respects, would be selected rather than rejected by 
the cromlech builders? Trethevy Cromlech consists of 
granite, and Mr. Pattison, quoted by Mr. Borlase, has 
called attention to the fact that this rock, where nearest 
the cromlech, occurs as boulders about haif a mile distant 
across a broad upland valley, and adds that “the builders 
must therefore have credit for the exertion of combined 
strength and skill in transporting these enormous masses 
of rock across the hollow and up the hill on which they 
stand.” Though, if necessary, we are quite prepared to 
concur in this, it must not be forgotten that the agency 
which lodged boulders on one side of the valley, may 
perhaps have deposited a few on the other, so that 
the builders may have found their materials nearer 
home. 
Zennor Cromlech, in the parish of the same name, near 
St. Ives, now dismantled, was in the time of Dr. Borlase 
the most interesting and perfect kist-vaen in West Corn- 
wall, and remarkable on account of the extension of the 
side-stones beyond the eastern end of the chamber, where 
with the aid of two additional stones, they formed a little 
cell. Such an addition appears to be unique in Cornwall, 
but in Wales and Anglesea it seems to be the rule rather 
than the exception for a small kist-vaen to exist side by 
side with the large one. 
Though there are no Passage graves in Cornwall in the 
sense in which the term is used by Swedish antiquaries, 
there are several instances of long chambers buried in 
tumuli, and roofed with large flat stones, and, as in Den- 
mark, termed “Giant’s Graves.” In 1756 Dr. Borlase 
described the largest of a group in the island of St. Mary, 
in Scilly, as 4°5 ft. wide at the mouth, 13°6 ft. long, and 
3°6 ft. high, covered from end to end with large flat 
stones, and having a tumulus of rubbish on top of all. 
The largest of a group of three in the parish of Zennor 
was described and figured in the Gentleman’s Magazine, 
July 1865, by Mr. J. T. Blight, who stated that its direc- 
tion was from N.W. to S.E., and that its dimensions were 
9'5 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and 4°3 ft. high. The roofing slabs, 
like those in St, Mary’s, were of granite; the first, being 
6in. lower than the others, appeared to be designed as a 
lintel, and made the clear height beneath it no more than 
3'5 ft.. The walls were of neat masonry, similar to the 
hedging work still in use in the neighbourhood; and 
the whole was covered with a tumulus 7oft. in circum- 
ference, 8 ft. high, and built round at its base with large 
stones. 
Near the village of Castle Euny, in the parish of San- 
creed, near Penzance, Mr. Borlase discovered a cham- 
bered tumulus in April 1863, in a valley long known to 
be rich in ancient remains. The tumulus is conical, 8 ft. 
high and 50 ft. in circumference, and supported at the 
base with large granite stones, one rising 4 ft. above the 
ground. The Chamber is 6 ft. long, 3 ft. broad at the en- 
trance and 3°75 at the opposite or northern end, and 
3'5 ft. high. Each side and end consists of a single 
block of granite resting on an artificial elevation 2 ft. high, 
and the roof is formed of two stones. Though probably 
